I feel like I should have written a movie review of this movie when I saw it the theater years ago. It feels like I’ve written a movie review for Tron and for Tron Legacy, but I couldn’t find it in my log, so I guess I’m just going to write a review for Tron Legacy now.

“When Flynn, the world’s greatest video game creator, sends out a secret signal from an amazing digital realm, his son discovers the clue and embarks on a personal journey to save his long-lost father. With the help of the fearless female warrior Quorra, father and son venture through an incredible cyber universe and wage the ultimate battle of good versus evil.”

I remember decades ago when I first saw Tron and what a huge impact that had on my life. Tron was way ahead of its time and I’m not really sure that the current generation will get as much out of Tron Legacy as I did because I don’t think they have the same kind of background. When Tron came out, computers weren’t common. A computer had a black screen with green and white text. Computers weren’t connected to the internet, though the internet was created, it just wasn’t common. Interestingly, the major bad guy in Tron wanted to control all the information and the good guys believed that information should be free and available for everyone. I don’t really remember Tron as well as I do Tron Legacy because I’m typing this review while Tron Legacy plays. I also remember that I splurged on the movie tickets for my brother and I and we got the new special D-Box seating that moves with the movie. This kind of movie was great for that, especially with the grid chases and the games. All the parts with the lightcycles and the vehicles were pretty fantastic.

As I watched this movie again, I remember how neat and imaginative this entire storyline is. It became a huge plot element for a variety of storylines and different series, with shows like Reboot about computer programs and a lot of shows and movies about artificial intelligence and the role of computers in our lives.

One of the parts I don’t think younger viewers will really empathize with is how the programs all have disks with all their stored information. When Tron first came out, computer programs used giant, 5.5 inch floppy disks to store and transfer information. Eventually, programs were upgraded to a 2.5 inch floppy disk that was a lot more stable. Inside either version of the floppy disk was an actual very floppy spinning disk. Decades later, we would move to solid state hard drives and the idea of a spinning floppy disk would be another invention from the past. That’s why the disks are so important in this movie and in the predecessor.

I particularly enjoyed the part where Daft Punk made an appearance and chose a variety of rather fantastic fight music. I remember how much I enjoyed the soundtrack and it was a birthday present when it came out.

Because this movie brings up a lot of thoughts and memories, I think I will rate it as a solid three on my rating scale. It’s not necessarily a movie I need to own, but I would watch it again and I still listen to the soundtrack when I need fast-paced writing motivation music.